John Robinson Appleby

15/16 January 1942 Hampden AE393 408 Sqn. Took off from RAF Balderton as part of 96 aircraft raid to bomb Hamburg. 52 aircraft reported bombing the target in difficult visibility. 3 Wellingtons 1 Hampden lost on raid.

8 lost over England due to running out of fuel.

AE393 crashed 00.30 on its return at West Burton, Yorkshire. 00.30hrs (police records) or 03.00hrs (incorrect RAF records) on 16th January 1942 and into deep snow. Two of the crew were thrown out of the aircraft and were killed, two others were trapped in the cockpit area and were rescued by a number of farmers who were alerted of the crash and made their way up to the site. Sadly one of these trapped airmen died soon after being rescued. The pilot survived and was initially treated for his injuries at a nearby farm before being taken to hospital. The pilot could not remember anything about the crash, he reported the altimeter had read at 5,000ft prior to the impact with a hillside near West Burton, and an investigation concluded that the altimeter was probably reading incorrectly at the time of the crash.
F/Sgt James Bunting
Sgt John Appleby
Blanche Appleby
Sgt Maurice Jones - All killed.
S/L Wilfred Burnett DFC RCAF injured.
Spent a long period of time recovering from his injuries sustained in this accident and during which he rose to S/Ldr (temp). Served with No.3 Group HQ & with 138 SD Squadron as Commanding Officer. Staying in the RAF after WW2 he flew Valiant's with 148 Squadron as their Commanding Officer in Suez and was mentioned in Dispatches on 23/1/1968, before a number of senior positions in the RAF. Air Commodore Wilf Burnett DSO, OBE, DFC, AFC died at the age of 91 on 26/11/2006.

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